The world has certainly grown sensitive in this current era since Rosie Perez’s major gripe with her role in Birds of Prey was that people were being ageist and calling her ‘grandma’. The comparison she made in MovieWeb, as stated:
“I mean, if [the sequel] happens, sure. When you said that, the first thing that came to my mind was, “Oh my God, I have to lose weight and get in shape again.” Hopefully, there won’t be any ageist type of jokes in it as well. Having me called “grandma.” That was the only thing, I was like, “Really guys? Really?” I was like, “Would you have the nerve to say that to Helen Mirren, in her 50 million action movies?”… It is what it is, but you have to take the chance, be brave enough to call it out and be ready for the consequences. I have been and I will be.”
: is enough to get a good laugh from since to start with, getting in shape and losing weight for a role is something that many actors simply accept for certain roles, as being active in an ACTION movie is kind of a given that people should be thinking about. But comparing herself to Dame Helen Mirren is enough to make a person shake their head as many might want to tell Rosie that she’s NOT in the same league as Mirren and should probably calm down a bit before making such a statement. It could be that Mirren takes such comments about her age in stride and tends to flip it back on those that would dare make such a crack since she’s not the type to be intimidated by anyone. Or it could be that Perez has forgotten that as great as she’s been in her career, she’s still not in Mirren’s orbit. Or it could be that, yes, I’m going to say it, Perez has a few insecurities that she’s never fully addressed and might need to take some time to reflect upon herself before worrying about the comments of others. She’s not a young woman, that much is kind of obvious, and after disregarding the comments of fans and all those that might have been giving her a tough time over her age, one can easily say that her casting wasn’t the worst part of the movie. The MOVIE was the worst part of the movie, even if people want to argue and quibble about this.
It could be that the feminist lean was a little too hard and that the idea of ‘equality’ went out the door when the movie started, or it could be the horrible over-acting, or it could have even been that the fight scenes were a little too over the top, even for a superhero movie. There are a lot of factors that went into Birds of Prey, along with its insanely long and pretentious title, that made it less than worthwhile for a lot of fans since it was a bomb that came from a mile away, one that people could see and yet didn’t get out of the way for since they were curious to see what happened when it hit. But Rosie Perez worrying over ageism when the fact is that she’s working with women that are easily twenty years younger than her and are bound to see her in a certain light feels more like personal insecurity that doesn’t require bravery as much as it does a thicker skin and a razor-sharp wit that can keep her from feeling as though she’s being targeted. Being ageist isn’t necessary, but it’s definitely nothing new either since younger people have been challenging their older counterparts in the workplace for decades if not centuries, and the fact is that once a person gets older, people will notice and they will wonder at their capabilities to complete a task. The best way to still the questions, as many people have already discovered, is to show the younger generation that young doesn’t mean weak, infirm, or in any way diminished.
But if Rosie really wanted to sound ‘brave’ she would accept her age, fire back at the younger crowd with a few well-placed and hopefully well-intentioned jokes that might put them on the spot, if only to remind them that she’s not so old that she can’t get the job done. Otherwise, it sounds like whining, a rather familiar sound that tends to come out of Hollywood these days and has grown steadily worse over the past couple of decades. If there’s a gripe to make, people are going to voice it, and the ‘bravery’ that they’re applauded for when coming forward with their issues has become little more than congratulations for being able to give voice to their mounting irritation. Rosie is a middle-aged woman, not a young lady, if she could take pride in that, then her ‘bravery’ might mean something.
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